Assistants got their raise; who else interviewed and who might be coming in

Some news and notes from the Paul Pasqualoni introductory press conference.

You'd be hard-pressed to find anyone whose played for, coached with or against or who simply knows the man that doesn't think the world of Paul Pasqualoni. Loyalty and integrity were words heard often to describe him. I spoke to numerous people today, including one prominent high school coach who said despite a strong relationship with Mark Whipple, he thought Paul Pasqualoni was simply the better hire.

Much has been made over the issue of pay for UConn's assistant coaches -- including today on the comments section on the old Runway blog. Jeff Hathaway said he committed a new contract for a pay raise to Randy Edsall in August, and that contract was signed on Dec. 29, a full three days before the Fiesta Bowl. Hathaway didn't have specific numbers on the raises, but that it was enhanced and could be further enhanced after conversations with Pasqualoni and the higher-ups at UConn who must be in on those decisions. "You have to remember, right years ago when I got here it was I-AA pay," Hathaway said. "We progressed those people as best we can, including our head coach who wasn't even at the $300 (K) level."

Hathaway confirmed that Pasqualoni was the only person offered the job, and was the only person even granted a follow-up interview. He said he interviewed six candidates for the job, which legal issues prevented him from naming. But that has been confirmed to be Pasqualoni, Whipple, Hank Hughes, Garrick McGee, Norries Wilson and Ken O'Keefe.

Pasqualoni made it his first order of business to interview all the current assistant coaches and determine who, if any, will remain on staff. No decisions have been made yet. Pasqualoni has reached out to some external candidates already to gauge their interest, and of course he said there is interest from them to come to UConn. Just some names I've heard so far, with a note that I haven't confirmed interest on either side, are George DeLeone of New Haven, now with the Miami Dolphins, and Jerry Azzinaro of Oregon. DeLeone has experience as an offensive and defensive coordinator; Azzinaro is the defensive line coach at Oregon. Both coached with Pasqualoni at Syracuse.